Life's Most Important Question

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Mark 8:27-30 (NIV) ²⁷ Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, "Who do people say I am?" ²⁸ They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets." ²⁹ "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "You are the Christ." ³⁰ Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.

Introduction

Life is full of questions. Some are relatively minor. "Paper or plastic?" "Would you like fries with that?" Others make lifelong impacts. "Where will you go to college?" "Will you marry me?" Some come at life's most wonderful moments. "What shall we name our firstborn?" Others come when life is dark and lonely. "Will a few more months of life be worth the cancer treatments my doctor recommends?" But one question is most important of all. One question determines our eternal destiny, and possibility the destiny of scores of others. One question shapes our worldview above all others. That is the question Jesus asked his disciples in this passage. "What about you? Who do you say that I am?"

I. Don't be afraid to ask questions about Jesus.

Jesus was a Jewish Rabbi. The normal teaching method for rabbis was for their disciples to ask them questions, and they would provide the answers. Jesus demonstrates on this trip to the villages around Caesarea Philippi that he is a different type of Rabbi. Instead of the disciples asking him questions, he is asking them questions. Some people think having faith means believing things without thinking or questioning them. I don't believe God expects us to check our brains at the door when we come into his kingdom. He made us and created us with minds, and he expects us to use them and to think things through. Jesus asked his disciples questions in this passage because he wanted them to think through their faith. He wanted them to think about:

• What the people were saying about him.
• What they were thinking about him.
• What they might be misunderstanding about him.

Many people think they show the depth or strength of their faith by never asking questions about Jesus. Likely the reverse is true. If we never stop to question, to think through the identity of Jesus, then we are just repeating what others have said.

II. Beware of what other's say about Jesus.

The first question Jesus asked the disciples was, "Who do people say that I am?" We should be aware of what people around us think and say about who Jesus is. The disciples answered with what they had been hearing the people say.

Mark 6:14-15 (NIV)
¹⁴ King Herod heard about this, for Jesus' name had become well known. Some were saying, "John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him."
¹⁵ Others said, "He is Elijah." And still others claimed, "He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago."

The answers given by the disciples in this passage are the same as we are told people were saying in Chapter 6. What do people say about Jesus in our culture today? There are a lot of different opinions about who Jesus is in our culture.

The Agnostic View

The Simpsons surpassed The Flintstones as the longest running prime time animated show several years ago. It is a television program that has become a pop phenomenon. On one episode of The Simpsons, Bart is told that ancient men used to worship animals. He makes the comment that he is so glad that we've advanced to the point that we now worship a dead Jewish carpenter. Obvious is the writers opinion that those who worship Jesus are just as foolish as those who worshiped crocodiles, or statues, or the sun. He sees Jesus as an irrelevant person who lived and died two thousand years ago, and feels that intelligent people have moved on from making him an object of worship.

The Islamic View

Most Christians do not know that Muslims believe in Jesus. Muslims believe the following things about Jesus.

• He is one of God's most beloved prophets
• He is a bringer of scripture
• He is the Messiah
• He is a worker of miracles.

Sounds like they have it right doesn't it? The only problem is that even though we would agree with all of those things, those descriptions provide an incomplete picture of who Jesus is. Here are some things that Muslims do not believe about Jesus.

• They do not believe that he is divine.
• They do not believe that he was crucified
• They do not believe in his sacrificial role, that is, that he did not pay for our sins.
• They believe that he is one of five great prophets.

As you can see, this belief, though at first seeming flattering, is at complete odds with the biblical description of Jesus.

The Latter Day Saints (Mormon) View

Certainly a church that calls themselves "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" would have the right view of Jesus right? I mean, they hold him in high esteem. They have his name right in the name of their church. Certainly they worship the same Jesus we do, right? Well they see Jesus as divine. They believe that he is a god, but not the same god as the Father. They see the Holy Spirit as a bodiless God, and Jesus and the Father as two gods each having his own physical body. They also believe that it is God's will that we eventually also can become gods with our own worlds to rule over. But the clear teaching of both the Old and New Testaments is that there is only one true God, and Jesus is that God, who came to earth in human form. The Mormon church goes on to teach that the same Jesus who lived and ministered in first century Israel, later came to the Americas and taught disciples here. The New Testament teaches that Jesus ascended into the clouds from the Mount of Olives, and that when he comes again he will return the same way. The Jesus of the New Testament has not been to the Americas, at least not in bodily form.

The Watchtower (Jehovah's Witnesses)

The Watchtower teaches that Jesus is the Son of God. Sounds good so far, but then it gets strange. They believe that as the Son of God, Jesus is somehow less than God, and is in fact a created being, also known as Michael the Archangel. They refer to him as the firstborn of all creation, but the New Testament teaches us that Jesus is not part of creation, but the author of creation.

The Secular View

Surprisingly, those who live secular lives often believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and many even believe that he was crucified and resurrected. I'm not talking about atheist or agnostics. I'm talking about people who intellectually believe all the right things about Jesus, but it makes no difference in their lives. They believe that even though these things about Jesus may be true, that he lived two thousand years ago, and it makes no real difference in their lives today. Many of these people believe that since Jesus taught about love and grace, and warned against judging others, that he will forgive them no matter what they do. They tend to overlook his instruction that no one comes to the father except by him. They don't remember that he taught that the way to destruction is broad, and the way to God is narrow. That is, most people will be destroyed, and a minority will be saved. They see Jesus as a forgiving but unjust Santa Clause who is bringing everyone the Christmas gift of salvation regardless of whether they have been naughty or nice.

III. The Revealed Answer about Who Jesus Is

After asking the disciples who people said he was, Jesus changed gears and made the question much more personal. He said, "But what about you? Who do you say that I am?" Actually in the Greek the first sentence isn't there. Jesus just asked, "Who do you say that I am." But when mark tells the story he emphasizes the word "you" by putting it at the beginning of the sentence. That's perfectly good grammar in Greek, but in English, "You say that I am who?" is very awkward grammar. So the translators conveyed the emphasis by adding the phrase, "But what about you?"
You see, this is a very personal question. It is a question of monumental importance, and of eternal significance. It is very important that you know for yourself who Jesus is. Knowing what people say about Jesus, even knowing what the pastor says about Jesus, is inadequate. Jesus wants us to have an informed opinion and testimony about who he is that flows out of our personal relationship with him.
At the time he asked his disciples who they say he is, he had been teaching them, walking with them, living with them, healing among them, for over two years. He thought they should have an idea who he really was that flowed out of having the opportunity to get to know him.
Peter blurts out an answer to Jesus' question. We don't know if this answer just came to him at this time, or he had thought this and discussed it among the other disciples prior to this. Peter said, "You are the Messiah!" Our translation says, "Christ." Christ is just a transliteration of the Greek Word Χριστός. Peter would have used the Hebrew word "Messiah." Both mean "anointed one." That title was full of meaning to the disciples, but requires a little elaboration for most modern Christians to understand what Peter meant. In the Old Testament three different types of people were anointed as a sign that God had set them aside for a special purpose.

Prophets

Although we tend to associate prophecy with predicting future events, it was primarily a preaching ministry. A prophet's job was to deliver God's message, usually a message or warning, sometimes a message of love, to his people. Prophets were anointed as a sign that God's Spirit was on them, and that they spoke with his full authority. To say that Jesus was anointed would imply that he spoke the very words of God as he taught his disciples.

Priests

The job of the priest was to offer sacrifices to God on behalf of the people. They were anointed to this task as a sign that God was willing to receive the sacrifices from them, and as a sign that God had set them apart for this task. It is doubtful that Peter thought of Jesus as a priest who would offer sacrifices for his people. The verses following this passage tend to indicate that was the furthest thing from his mind (Mark 8:31-33).

Kings

In the Old Testament the King was anointed. The idea was that he ruled at God's direction, and that men should submit to his rule as they would submit to God. David was anointed by Samuel to become king during the reign of Saul. While this was a great affront and threat to Saul, David demonstrated the same respect for Saul as God's anointed that he hoped to enjoy when he became king. Though Saul hunted David and tried to have him killed, David passed on more than one opportunity to kill Saul, because he didn't dare lay a hand on God's anointed one. Because of this God blessed David, and promised to protect his line. This created a theological and political crisis centuries later when, in 586 BC, the king was deposed and carried off into Babylonian captivity. Never again to this day has a son of David ruled over the people of Israel. This was probably the primary idea that Peter had in mind when he said that Jesus was the Messiah. He meant that he was the one who would restore David's kingdom. He expected that Jesus would lead the people first to get right with God, then God would deliver them from Rome, and Jesus would become the new ruler.
In Matthew's version of this story, Jesus commends Peter for this confession, and states that it did not come from flesh and blood, but from God. That is, the only way that Peter could have come to the conclusion that Jesus wasn't just a great prophet, like John the Baptist or Elisha or some other Old Testament prophet, but was in fact the long awaited Messiah, was if God had revealed it to him (Matthew 16:15-17). The only way any of us really come to understand Jesus is that God's Holy Spirit speaks to our hearts and reveals himself to us. Jesus has told us that no one comes to the father except by him, but he also said that no one come to him unless he is called by the father. If you want to really be able to answer the question of who Jesus is in a personal way, pray for God to reveal him to you.
As the Anointed One, Jesus is God's prophet who speaks to us with absolute authority, warning of the coming judgment, and calling us to repentance. He is the Great High Priest who offers himself as the once for all perfect sacrifice that is sufficient to atone for all our sins. And he is the King of all Kings, worthy of complete and total submission in every area of our lives. If we can say he is the Messiah, the Christ, with a heartfelt, God revealed understanding of who God is, then our lives will be transformed. Just as Peter went from being a fisherman to being the chief of the apostles, we are never left the same when we come to an understanding of who Jesus is.
But even after this great confession, Peter didn't fully understand. The same apostle who is commended for the great confession of Mark 8:30 is rebuked and called Satan in Mark 8:33, because of his lack of understanding of the purpose and mission of the Messiah. So it is with us. Even when we have a life changing understanding that Jesus is indeed our anointed prophet, priest and king, coming to know and understand him is a lifelong process, not a task that we complete and then rest on our laurels.

Conclusion

What about you? Can you tell who others think Jesus is? Can you tell who you think Jesus is? Or are you ready to say, "I know Jesus, he is my Lord, my Savior, my Prophet, Priest and King!"